01
Origins
The SR8 of 2005 crowned Radical's range with an engine of beautiful madness: the RPE V8, created by joining Suzuki Hayabusa-derived banks into a 2.6-then-2.7-litre unit revving beyond 10,000 rpm, in a car under 700 kilograms with serious downforce. Road-registered in Britain, it attacked the Nürburgring Nordschleife's production-car record — Michael Vergers lapping in 6:55 in 2005, then 6:48 in 2009, times that stood as benchmarks for years and forced every subsequent claimant to argue definitions. As a customer racing car it dominated its classes worldwide. The SR8 remains the marque's thesis at full volume: that racing engineering, sold honestly, could humble any road car ever built — and post a lap time to end the argument.
2005 Radical SR8 · Mr.choppers · CC BY-SA 3.0
